Research

We work broadly on multihazard, in particular focusing on landslides, volcanoes, cryospheric hazards, and the interactions between these. We have wide ranging research interests, in particular integrating remote sensing, numerical modelling, and fieldwork to understand the interactions between multiple hazards.

The objective of our research group is to do societally relevant research understanding the processes, improving our observations, and enabling the mitigation or prevention of complex hazard chains or multihazards. We particularly work on hazards, or hazard interactions that have been previously understudied or overlooked, with a view to better understanding these and preventing associated damage. Multidisciplinary collaboration – with social scientists, engineers, policymakers, etc. – is a core element to our work and is necessary to effectively understand natural hazard risk and ensure any new findings find real-world impact.

Specific topics we have worked on include:

• Evaluating hazard and risk at ice-clad volcanoes. Despite being by far the deadliest type of volcanic eruption over the past century, many aspects of glaciovolcanic systems remain poorly understood. This is particularly important and timely to study given the rapid changes these areas are undergoing in a warming climate.

• Large scale landslide detection using satellite imagery, including development of new methods for detecting landslides and assessing the quality of inventories.

• Developing novel methods to detect movement in digital imagery, in particular applied to the mapping of ice velocities and detection of slow-moving landslides.

• Understanding the two-way interactions between glacial retreat and landsliding. Glacier retreat can increase landslide frequency and magnitude, but also be affected by landslide emplacement in various ways.

• Evaluating risk in high-altitude environments through machine-learning based merging of large-scale numerical weather prediction model data and local weather station outputs, including at the summit of Mt Everest.

We are always glad to welcome new members, from undergraduate students to professors. Please sign up to our mailing list (https://lists.cam.ac.uk/sympa/info/ucam-comhaz) to stay in touch.